Euro exit disappoints Moyes

26 February 2010 09:08

Everton manager David Moyes admitted his team had lost to the better side as the Toffees slumped to a 3-0 defeat against Sporting Lisbon to crash out of the Europa League at the last-32 stage.
It was a disappointing result for the in-form Premier League side who won the first leg 2-1 and had beaten both Chelsea and Manchester United at Goodison Park in recent weeks.
However, second-half goals by midfielders Miguel Veloso, Pedro Mendes and Matias Fernandez allowed the Portuguese side to progress to the last 16 on a 4-2 aggregate.
Moyes said after the disappointing loss: "We will do our best to qualify for next season's Europa League but it's a long shot at the moment.
"Credit to Sporting, they were the better team and deserved to go through. We didn't get to the levels we got to in recent weeks. The idea was to get a goal and get the tie finished but Sporting started well and we found it difficult.
"We knew the first 20 minutes would be difficult. There was pressure throughout and we never had enough of the ball to make anything happen."